MK Crowds tonight Monday *12/17*

[epcotty]

I wonder what it'll be like when the parties end, if the crowds will be more even then

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Well, sure. If you're trying to compare it to summer, you'll be terribly disappointed. Summer is "slow" season for WDW, relatively speaking. Christmas is the busiest time of year, so it's apples and oranges. We were there last year at this time. We arrived on the 17th I think and stayed until Jan 1. It'll get worse. The heaviest crowd is the week between Xmas and New Years.

Just understand it's very busy, it's going to stay that way. But you're in WDW, have fun!!

I thought the summer months were just as busy, or the second busiest time? I know that Christmas time is nuts. But wouldn't summer be a "close nuts" with kids out of school and teachers like me who don't share the same spring break with their child taking their summer vacations?

 

[sharonabe]

I wonder what it'll be like when the parties end, if the crowds will be more even then

Yes, they will be even more because once the parties end, it's Christmas/New Year's weeks, the two MOST crowded weeks of the year.

 

[ClapYourHands]

I thought the summer months were just as busy, or the second busiest time? I know that Christmas time is nuts. But wouldn't summer be a "close nuts" with kids out of school and teachers like me who don't share the same spring break with their child taking their summer vacations?

You'd think so, but apparently not anymore. Parents are much more willing to take their kids out of school than they used to be. The "summer" is a long stretch, starting in May when many southern schools dismiss and going through labor day when many northern schools start. So even if people choose the summer, it's spread out over several months.

Also, it's Florida. In summer. That kind of heat is not for the faint of heart. Lots of people will try to make some other time work so they can get better weather.

 

[epcotty]

We've gone to the other parks yearly on days leading up to Christmas, even the 24th, not too bad. Hopefully MK on the 22nd won't be that much worse than other parks at or around those dates (we wanted to see the Christmas parade/holiday wishes so decided on that day for MK)

 

[Tiggerlover91]

You'd think so, but apparently not anymore. Parents are much more willing to take their kids out of school than they used to be. The "summer" is a long stretch, starting in May when many southern schools dismiss and going through labor day when many northern schools start. So even if people choose the summer, it's spread out over several months.

Also, it's Florida. In summer. That kind of heat is not for the faint of heart. Lots of people will try to make some other time work so they can get better weather.

Truth! Living here since 94, I've pretty much grown MORE than accustomed to it. There are some days though, I wish for our time back in Alaska! Other days, I wouldn't trade it. However, living here you learn what you need to do to get through those summer months. The district I work in, our kids are out on the 25th. My son's district, they are out the following week, so you got that May thing down. And I've noticed that as a teacher that parents are MUCH more willing to pull their kids out to go to Disney. When I was student teaching back in 2014, had 2 sets of families do it. And I believe my first year teaching in my own classroom in 2016 there was one family that did it.

 

[Idoc]

I thought the summer months were just as busy, or the second busiest time? I know that Christmas time is nuts. But wouldn't summer be a "close nuts" with kids out of school and teachers like me who don't share the same spring break with their child taking their summer vacations?

We went this past July (always go February and October as well) and we were surprised how low the crowds were. It was hot for sure, but crowds were low.

 

[SaintsManiac]

I thought the summer months were just as busy, or the second busiest time? I know that Christmas time is nuts. But wouldn't summer be a "close nuts" with kids out of school and teachers like me who don't share the same spring break with their child taking their summer vacations?

Summer is the new “quiet” season. Fall is the new busy season.

 

[jaysmom4285]

We were also at WDW from the 9th to the 16th. It did feel as if there were more people in the parks in general than at similar times in previous years, but attraction wait times didn't seem to be out of line with what we had experienced before, and we had little problem getting 4th and subsequent FP+ for most of the rides we wanted, even some Tier 1 attractions, sometimes with a little refreshing. We do know enough to avoid MK like the plague on a non-party day, as it is unbearably crowded, especially for HEA. The HEA dessert party is a lifesaver in that regard. With some judicious planning and taking into account the TP recommendations and crowd levels, we navigated things pretty well

 

[wfjny]

I just came back from our pre-thanksgiving trip with very intense crowd levels (55 minutes for astro orbiters? 60 for winnie the pooh? yikes)
And this past december was there the 17th to the 23rd...but we managed perfectly fine?

Would do both again. Managed our time great with our FP and RP/EMH.

Actually considering a new years trip to check that off.

I feel like if you have the mindset that Disney is always "crowded" you will leave appreciating how much you got done no matter what.

I've gone every year since 1996 and the new additions make me want to go back. The price change is unfortunate but if you don't agree with their policies, then simply don't go.
There will ALWAYS be people who go to Disney no matter what. Those families who finally have kids and want to experience it with them?
The Star Wars nut who his whole life wanted to walk around the Millenium Falcon.
Me wanting to take my significant other for the first time so he can appreciate my love for the place.

They will always appeal to SOMEONE.

You are 100% right. Even during the great depression, when unemployment was at 25%, that still meant that 75% were employed. It is great to have money during bad economic times.

It was just a couple of years ago when the economy was not as strong. Disney was no where as crowded. Deals were everywhere. They were giving away dining plans. DVC members could purchase an AP for less than what a 7 day parkhopper cost. But even back in 2008 and 2009, there were plenty of people at Disney. Not as many as appear to be there today.

But I have even heard from a few hard core Disney fans that they may be holding off going there for a while. But then again, for how long. The rides in the Pandora area have extremely long waits a year and a half after they opened. 7DMT still seems to have about a 2 hour wait four years later.

But the question is how long will they hold off. Space Mountain had a 90 minute wait last Wednesday, and that ride is over 40 years old...

i guess we will just have to wait and see...

 

[wdw&sonny]

Why are the wait times so short right now (4:00 PM on 12/20/18). Only 1 over 60 min (FOP at 110'). SDMT at 50, SDD at 45', RnRC at 45, FEA at 45', PP at 40, MS at 40, TSM at 30'. Ever other attraction at less than 30 min. Buzz, IaSW, JC, KRR, PotC, SE, Splash, ST, all at 5 minutes!!! Those are some pretty short waits for 5 days before Christmas. Why?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Why are the wait times so short right now (4:00 PM on 12/20/18). Only 1 over 60 min (FOP at 110'). SDMT at 50, SDD at 45', RnRC at 45, FEA at 45', PP at 40, MS at 40, TSM at 30'. Ever other attraction at less than 30 min. Buzz, IaSW, JC, KRR, PotC, SE, Splash, ST, all at 5 minutes!!! Those are some pretty short waits for 5 days before Christmas. Why?

Weather. Severe storms earlier, tornado watches, etc. A lot of outdoor rides have been closed for various periods on/off. Pretty miserable day all around judging from the radar.

 

[madge]

We were also there last week. Crowds were bad at every park. I cant imagine what it will be like when Star Wars opens. Just cant imagine shoving more people in the parks. Rope drop is less efficient
because Disney now has Paid special events pre park opening, filling up the park. We stayed at Beach Club and the lobby,quick service and lounge areas were packed with the overflow from world showcase. After 16 yearly visits, we are done for awhile. Customer service has slipped so... much with less staff. Make the cookie smaller and raise price.
Rant over.

got home last night ... came away with a similar conclusion. this year marks 20 years of annual visits for our family. we may try to squeeze in one more visit next year (youngest will be a HS senior in the fall) but we definitely see our annual trips winding down.

as far as crowds M-T-W of this week, this was our experience:
Monday- Epcot crowds were light early, manageable late. We were surprised to get a seat for the late CP show with Gary Sinese -- that line was LONG. Illuminations crowd was lighter than I've ever seen it in the summer or fall. Honestly, everything at Epcot was might lighter than we see in the fall. I loved it. LOL

Tuesday -- Studios at opening was what we expected, was able to ride SDD and TSM without trouble. After leaving Toy Story land around 10:45am, the rest of the park seemed kind of crazy. We hopped to Magic Kingdom, expecting lower (ish) crowds because of the MVMCP .... but we were WRONG. It was very busy & I had difficulty finding fast passes for much of anything we wanted. Was happy to leave to resort hop

Wednesday -- Magic Kingdom felt busy from the start. Stayed until lunchtime, waits were ok in the morning but we on the way up when we left. Hopped to Epcot to catch the storytellers we missed on Monday and experienced the same manageable crowds there. Left Epcot to go to AK for our prized FOP fast pass time. We waited FOREVER for a bus. Yikes. Crowds at AK weren't any heavier or lighter than other times we've been there ... if anything, lighter than our last spring break trip. Went back to MK for HEA. (our oldest hadn't seen the show, otherwise we would've gone back to Epcot) Expected and experienced heavy crowds and rain. At least one of the backstage exits was open after fireworks. We weren't prepared for rain, so we gave up on staying for EMH. I suspect those crowds were probably good given the weather.

It's been years since I've been in December, so I wasn't sure how it would compare to Spring/Fall breaks or July 4. Seemed less crowded than the breaks, more so than July 4.